The Complete Stories [NOOK Book]

Overview

Winner of the National Book Award

The publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O'Connor's monumental contribution to American fiction. There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime--Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find.

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This Book

Overview

Winner of the National Book Award

The publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O'Connor's monumental contribution to American fiction. There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime--Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find.

O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium," in 1946, while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, "Judgement Day"--sent to her publisher shortly before her death--is a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of "The Geranium." Taken together, these stories reveal a lively, penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction of the twentieth century. Also included is an introduction by O'Connor's longtime editor and friend, Robert Giroux.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"What we lost when she died is bitter. What we have is astonishing: the stories burn brighter than ever, and strike deeper." —Walter Clemons, Newsweek

Library Journal

It is nearly impossible to read Carlene Bauer’s Frances and Bernard and not wonder about the works Bauer is referencing. For those who want to read actual work by O’Connor and Lowell, these two collections are great launch points. The short stories of O’Connor won her the National Book Award and provide a good overview of her potent, brutal, and powerful writing. They are arranged in chronological order so Bauer’s readers can speculate on which stories Frances and Bernard may have been discussing. Robert Lowell’s massive Collected Poems is also structured chronologically and takes readers through his development and interests as a poet. However, for readers who want to jump around, “For the Union Dead,” “The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket,” and “Waking Early Sunday Morning” are three of his most iconic poems.

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Meet the Author

More by this Author

Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1925. When she died at the age of thirty-nine, America lost one of its most gifted writers at the height of her powers.

Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1925. When she died at the age of thirty-nine, America lost one of its most gifted writers at the height of her powers. O'Connor wrote two novels, Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960), and two story collections, A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955) and Everything That Rises Must Converge (1964). Her Complete Stories, published posthumously in 1972, won the National Book Award that year, and in a 2009 online poll it was voted as the best book to have won the award in the contest's 60-year history. Her essays were published in Mystery and Manners (1969) and her letters in The Habit of Being (1979). In 1988 the Library of America published her Collected Works; she was the first postwar writer to be so honored. O'Connor was educated at the Georgia State College for Women, studied writing at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and wrote much of Wise Blood at the Yaddo artists' colony in upstate New York. She lived most of her adult life on her family's ancestral farm, Andalusia, outside Milledgeville, Georgia.

Robert Giroux contributed to The Collected Prose from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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The Most Accomplished American Short Story Writer

When I was an English major in college, I studied Flannery O'Connor and wrote a thesis on her work. At first, I thought her work was very offputting because some of her stories were grotesque and preachy. Then I began to realize her genius: The ability to portray ordinary people who undergo extraordinary changes in their lives. Her stories are gems of revelation, straddling mystery and manners.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted April 3, 2007

Flannery O'Connor is incredible

Flannery O'Connor's dark tales tell stories that plumb the depths of human nature. Far from a shallow portrait of humanity, O'Connor sees right through our dissembling and points to the true problem. She is the closest thing to a truly great writer America has had for many years. Her stories are witty, horrifying, and brilliant.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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puzzleman

Posted July 5, 2013

WOW! WOW! WOW!

What a collection of stories! Well written, usually very light and humorous. Then a knockout punch that leaves you dazed.

Some may find the prolific use of the N-word offensive, but it probably captures the South at that period. Others also may say there are critiques of the religious, but I say it merely captures the Southern nature at that time. All humanity, across all cultures and time periods, shows the same brutality and small mindedness.

Some stories will ruin you for a day with their blowaway ending.

Very powerful, very good, a must read. And I have 150 pages to go.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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O'Connor is a lost treasure~

I have not ready any of Flannery O'Connor's work prior to purchasing this collection, and boy - what I have been missing! This is a complete collection of all of her shot stories, including ones that have not been published in book form before. Each story is unique, and sends you on a journey that can be sometimes sad, echantingm and even shocking! Definite one for anyone who loves a great short story. Can not put it down - wish she had written more.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted August 1, 2014

Highly Recommended

Excellent writing, character studies -

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Wonderful collection

If you love Flannery O'Connor's short stories, get this book. She remains one of America's finest writers and her tales never get old. "Parker's Back", "Revelation", "Good Country People", "A Good Man is Hard to Find", and many others are in this collection. GET IT, READ IT, LOVE IT!!!

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Anonymous

Posted November 27, 2004

Unimpressed.

I am not impressed by her stories and takes an unrealistic and a shallow approach to humanity.

0 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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